While some people were concerned about their tax returns on Sunday, April 15th, a Peregrine Falcon was concerned about her return... to the wild.

In late January of this year, City of Fremont Park Rangers were called about an injured "hawk" near the Central Park Performance Pavilion. When they arrived, they discovered a Peregrine Falcon that was underweight, unstable and allowing people to get much too close. Rangers contacted the Ohlone Wildlife Rehabilitation Center where, over the last few months, staff and volunteers, have nursed the falcon back to health.

The falcon's release was attended by a dozen or so bird enthusiasts, Ohlone Wildlife Rehabilitation Center volunteers, friends from the Sulphur Creek Nature Center in Hayward, as well as City of Fremont Park Rangers, Vickie Eggert and Matt Ritchie, who responded to the original call in January. At 11:15 a.m., at the Central Park Performance Pavilion, near where the falcon was originally found, David Anderson, RVT, with the Ohlone Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, donned his leather, protective gloves and, with the falcon secured between his hands, gave the falcon a gentle toss into the air. The bird flew for a bit and landed in a nearby tree on the edge of the lake. She explored the tree, moving from branch to branch, before taking to the sky again.

The Peregrine Falcon, released Sunday, is only one of the many animals helped by the Ohlone Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, which was created from the original Newark animal shelter in 1998. It is a full service wildlife rehabilitation hospital center for local injured, ill, and sick wildlife. Their staff and volunteers take in over 1200 animals each year from the Fremont, Newark and Union City areas in need of professional and specialized care. The Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, part of the Ohlone Humane Society, does not receive local or state funding. They rely on generous support from the community through donations and volunteering.